John Berry/The Post StandardSyracuse Opera will present Georges Bizet's "The Pearl Fishers." From left, Matthew Trevino will sing the role of Nourabad, Janinah Burnett as Leila, Brian Stucki as Nadir and Corey McKern as Zurga.

Synopsis: The three-act opera by Georges Bizet is set in a pearl-fishing village in Ceylon (today’s Sri Lanka). Zurga has become the village leader. His childhood friend Nadir returns, and the two men recall a veiled woman they both once loved. Taking a pledge, the men choose friend´ship over the love of this woman.

Meanwhile, villagers await the arrival of Leila, a virgin priestess, who will pray for their safety and prosperity as they dive for pearls in the ocean. High priest Nourabad welcomes Leila, instructing her to remain veiled and chaste. But Nadir senses Leila’s presence and finds her.

Nourabad discovers this illicit tryst, and the villagers seek the deaths of the two lovers. Zurga says, as leader, he will decide the fate of the two. Of course, his feelings for Leila and Nadir complicate his decision. On the verge of the execution of the lovers, Zurga creates a diversion, so they can escape.

Janinah Burnett, soprano.

Portrays Leila, a priestess who prays for the safety of the pearl fishers.

Family history helped Janinah Burnett prepare for her role as the priestess Leila. Because some of the action takes place before the opera begins, the so´prano had to “create” an earlier life for Leila.

The soprano needed to know what motivated Leila to become a priestess. She imagines Leila came from a long line of family priestesses.

“It’s something I didn’t neces´sarily choose,” says Burnett. “I would have chosen love. But be´cause of the duty that I’ve been born into, I had to go into this life.”

The family obligation also causes Leila to have a tug-of-war in her heart and in her con´science. Her love for Nadir is powerful. “Because my heart, soul wants to choose love, it’s easy for me to stray,” says Burn´ett.

Leila chooses Nadir and “gambles” with her position, feelings and even her life, says the soprano.

While opera typically uses the voice to express emotion, Burn´ett says in this particular role, there’s a lot of mixed emotion. “So the voice, it seems to say one thing; however, the body, the senses can say another.”

Burnett wants audiences to witness the opera’s main charac´ters wrestle with those con´flicted emotions.

BRIAN STUCKI, tenor.

Portrays Nadir, childhood friend of Zurga, and in love with Leila.

Brian Stucki has an advantage over his fellow singers. He has sung the role of Nadir in two productions, Lyric Opera of Kansas City (2008) and Seattle Opera (2009).

So, he says, he arrived with opinions and has shared his interpretations of the opera with his collaborators.

“Having done it before, I sort of had a couple different stabs at fleshing out this back story,” he says before an afternoon rehearsal on Monday.

Stucki has discovered more about the characters and their motivations and can convey those ramifications onstage.

“I’ve felt more assured of this role and this piece,” says the tenor.

“Musically, also, I settled into it more. Nadir is an interesting role because it’s very high, but it alternates between some quiet dramatic moments and some very, very lyric moments,” he says. “It requires a really nuanced approach to the different registers of the voice. ’’

He is certain the audience will find Nadir and Zurga’s duet, the famous “Au Fond du Temple Saint,” in Act 1 exciting.

In Act 2, he says audiences will sense the tension between Nadir and Leila. “They’re both trying to resist this connection they can’t deny,” says Stucki, who appeared in the “The Barber of Seville” while in the Glimmerglass Opera Young American Artists Program in 2006.

With certainty, Stucki says audiences will appreciate Bizet’s music.

“It’s one of the most gorgeous, gorgeous melodies in any opera.”

COREY McKERN, baritone.

Portrays Zurga, leader of the pearl fishers and childhood friend of Nadir.

Corey McKern as Zurga, leader of the pearl fishers’ village, is the man in the middle.

“He’s kind of the pivot everyone plays off,” says McKern.

Zurga is confronted with his friend’s betrayal, jealously, unrequited love for Leila and a fateful decision.

“You’ve got to love opera for the sort of dramatics,” says McKern. “You never see an opera about a guy sitting in a chair reading the paper. It’s always some major life-changing events.”

All those elements reside in “The Pearl Fishers.”

The baritone says operas could be distilled to a simple plot, “but the music is what changes and makes it so dramatic, that no other medium really has that kind of dramatic music.”

Drama also plays a role in McKern’s connection to Syracuse. In 1987, the Indianapolis native was 11 years old during the final game of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament between Syracuse University and Indiana University. Syracuse lost the national championship 74-73. McKern confesses his family wore out a videotape of the game, repeatedly watching the historic victory.

MATTHEW TREVINO, bass.

Portrays Nourabad, high priest and protector of Leila.

In many ways, Matthew Trevino, as high priest, is a man caught in the middle — between obedience to his god Brahma, lust for Leila and hatred for Nadir and Zurga.

Trevino worked with stage director Marc Astafan to understand his character, Nourabad, spiritual leader of the pearl fishers’ village. The men realized the priest is not without flaws; he is complicated. He wrestles with his feelings for Leila and manipulates her through religious responsibility.

He says audiences can observe Nourabad’s struggles, especially those directed at Nadir and Zurga, and decide whether the priest is acting for the good of the village or for himself. “It’s subtle and goes by fleetingly,” he says.

In an opera with beautiful music, Nourabad is the spoiler. “For my role, the difficulty comes in that I don’t sing the lyric things,” says Trevino. “I’m kind of the guy who comes in and almost breaks apart the beauty when he comes in.”

Nourabad rails against those in love and those having fun. “I come in and oppose them and strike them down. My music is very declamatory.”

Men like Nourabad appeal to Trevino as a singer and actor. He says finds characters struggling between light and dark attractive.

The details

What: “The Pearl Fishers,” by Georges Bizet, presented by Syr´acuse Opera. Sung in French with projected English titles.